25 Plot Details That Get In The Way Of A Good Movie

Posted by , Updated on March 23, 2024

Creating a great movie is a complex task. Merely having a superb script, talented actors, or an excellent producer doesn’t always guarantee success. Even if all these elements are in place, one can still end up with an embarrassing film. The reason being, one poorly framed quote or a hackneyed line has the power to disrupt everything. A movie can be fantastic all the way through to the end until a cliché wrecks it.

So today we’re going to be looking at what those things are. Cliches of course are one of them, but there are a lot more. How about when the countdown takes forever. It’s a 3 second countdown that takes almost 3 minutes. Okay that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but forever countdowns definitely don’t earn the movie any extra points in the cool department. And then there’s product placement, unnecessary accents, and the dreaded unlimited ammo guns. All that these things do is serve to mess up the movie. As we said, it can be a great film with perfect acting and directing, but all it takes is one of these little plot detail mess ups to just ruin the whole thing. These are 25 Plot Details That Get In The Way Of A Good Movie.

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Featured Image: pixabay

25

Empty cups

Empty cupsImage: publicdomainpictures.net, Source: imgur

Who drinks air? This should be one of the easiest things to make believable.

24

Meme references

Meme referencesSource: 9gag

The worst part is that memes are here today and gone tomorrow. People won’t even get the reference in 2 years.

23

Attractive "ugly" characters

Attractive "ugly" charactersSource: reddit

And then everybody makes fun of the “attractive” ugly character for how ugly they are.

22

Swords being removed from leather sheaths

Swords being removed from leather sheathsImage: pixabay, Source: 9gag

How do they still make that zing sound?

21

Deus Ex Machina

Deus Ex MachinaSource: thoughtcatalog

This is when seemingly unsolvable problems are all of a sudden solved by some out-of-the-blue plot twist. Bond gadgets are a perfect example of this. Those things are used once, and then never again.

20

Terrible accents

Terrible accentsSource: 9gag

Why is it that “British” is the default European accent? No, why is “British” the default accent at all? From futuristic space sagas to Roman gladiatorial dramas, it’s “British” accents all around.

Note: “British” has quotation marks because the accent is usually not done very well. So it’s not really British. It’s wannabe British.

19

35-year-old high school kids

35 year old high school kidsImage: picserver.org, Source: reddit

This counts for both the 10-year-old that quotes Shakespeare as well as the 35-year-old that was cast as a 10-year-old.

18

Noises in space

Noises in spaceSource: 9gag

It’s a vacuum, how on Earth would you hear anything? You wouldn’t because that’s right, you’re not on Earth.

 

17

Plot armor

Plot armorSource: thoughtcatalog

Also known as character shields, this is when the main character just won’t die because they’re too important to the story.

16

Retired specialists

Retired specialistsSource: reddit

Why are these guys always the hero?

15

Not saying bye on the phone

Not saying bye on the phoneImage: wikipedia, Source: imgur

Thanks to Hollywood, about 90% of the world thinks that Americans just hang up on each other.

14

Unlimited ammo

Unlimited ammoSource: 9gag

Well, they do reload, but only when it’s convenient to the plot.

13

Unnecessary accents

Unnecessary accentsSource: 9gag

Related to the terrible accents we have already discussed is the unnecessary accent. Why on Earth would a movie set in Germany have native German speakers talking in English with German accents?

12

Heroes not finishing the bad guy

Heroes not finishing the bad guySource: thoughtcatalog

And then the bad guy rolls over and shoots the hero so the hero runs around and finishes him. Really? Why not just do it right away? This is probably the main reason that the ending of Taken was so good.

11

Bad guys who don't just kill the good guys

Bad guys who don't just kill the good guysSource: thoughtcatalog

So we’ve cornered our nemesis and now it’s time for….a speech? As soon as this happens, you know that the good guy is going to make it.

10

Banging on computers

Banging on computersImage: wikipedia, Source: reddit

No, hacking is not just typing really fast.

9

555 telephone numbers

555 telephone numbersImage: wikipedia, Source: thoughtcatalog

Especially when the character says it out loud.

8

The Wilhelm scream

The Wilhelm screamSource: 9gag

Used since 1951, it’s time to retire this soundbite.

7

Product placement

Product placementImage: wikipedia, Source: thoughtcatalog

Even the best scenes can become cringe-worthy.

6

Not eating

Not eatingImage: pixabay, Source: reddit

So the characters sit down, order food, and right when it shows up, they leave. Every time.

5

Flawless post-apocalyptic wastelands

Flawless post-apocalyptic wastelandsImage: pixabay, Source: 9gag

And the main characters hair…does he use gel?

4

Rearview mirror conversations

Rearview mirror conversationsImage: wikipedia, Source: reddit

Hollywood drivers seem to be able to stare at their backseat passengers for several minutes in the rearview mirror without crashing.

3

"I didn't sign up for this."

"I didn't sign up for this"Source: imgur

Or “I’m getting too old for this,” “I have a bad feeling about this,” or “We’ve got company.” Cliches are just not a good look in any movie that wants to take itself seriously.

2

Poorly executed sports scenes

Poorly executed sports scenesImage: pixabay, Source: reddit

When it looks like the actor has never swung a bat in his or her life or the director relies on camera angles to obscure the lack of talent, it can get painful pretty quickly. In fact, possibly the worse seen in movie history went down this route (Catwoman basketball scene).

1

Forever countdowns

Forever countdownsImage: youtube, Source: 9gag

Although the clock only has 3 seconds left on it, you can expect those three seconds to be an action packed minute.